More Strategic, More Confident Leaders: Report Shows LeaderShift is Having a Powerful Impact

​According to our latest independent evaluation, LeaderShift is right on track with its bold initiative to develop leadership capacity, ignite cross-sector collaboration, and shape the future of health care throughout Ontario.  
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Across community and primary health care, LeaderShift is equipping current and emerging leaders to thrive in environments that require new ways of thinking, working with, and relating to one another. With the announcement of the government’s new Ontario Health Teams, the timing is perfect. 

Below is an update on how LeaderShift is doing, based on the findings of an independent evaluation.

What We’ve Delivered: LeaderShift at a Glance

• 23 cohorts of the 5-Day LEADS Learning Series at 14 locations across the province (575 grads) 
• 2 LEADS Lite online pilot programs (46 grads)
• 3 Health System Leaders webinars, delivered live and now available on demand 
• Modules on Giving Feedback, Adaptive Leadership, and How to Have Difficult Conversations, now available on demand 
• A Resource Hub with useful tools, insights and ideas for current and emerging leaders
• A live LeaderShift Conference in the GTA on July 11, 2019

Who We’ve Reached
LeaderShift has kept up the momentum from the interim report, reaching our intended audience and getting great representation from all sub-sectors in the LEADS Learning Series. 

• ​​​85% of LEADS participants identify as early and mid-career leaders
• More than 75% come from organizations with fewer than 100 Full Time Equivalents
• 85% felt the training was highly relevant to them
• We had roughly equal participation from Home and Community Support, Mental Health & Addictions, and Team & Community-Based Primary Care 
• Over 75% valued doing LEADS with leaders from other sectors and levels of experience

​We’ve met or exceeded our targets on all of these fronts, working closely and collaboratively across sub-sectors and with key partners and stakeholders.   

​What Impact We’ve Had on Leaders 

“I found that so powerful –you don’t have to become a certain type of leader to be successful, but you can harness your own style and be a unique leader.”

By supporting community and primary health care leaders in developing through the LEADS Learning Series and other LeaderShift initiatives, we’ve helped them build capacity and confidence in 17 key leadership domains. 
In fact, our independent evaluators found that LEADS graduates doubled or nearly doubled their confidence in all leadership domains: 

• Lead Self jumped from 19% to 55% 
• Engage Others went from 22% to 50% 
• Achieve Results more than doubled from 17% to 42% 
• Develop Coalitions went from 16% to 28%
• System Change moved from 13% to 34% 

​But it’s not just about the numbers. Read what LeaderShift grads said about the impact leadership development has had on them:

“As a relatively new senior leader...,
I have sometimes not felt very confident.
This workshop gave me more confidence and has given me
more of a voice to speak up and express my opinion...
I am less concerned about being liked and more
confident to express myself and my rationale in a transparent way.”​

As a result of LeaderShift, 500+ current and emerging leaders are more confident, collaborative, system-oriented leaders. They’re also connected to each other in new ways, and poised to thrive together, in the current climate of transformation. ​

“I feel I have been given a better foundation for how to direct my ideas and work. How I should be thinking about the work that I do… I think about different things I learned as I go to meetings and I try to apply them. I feel like I have tools that I can use.”

​“Since LeaderShift, I am more confident within my role, setting the stage for change, and how I lead my team through difficult conversations, situations and change. This has lead to a more enjoyable work environment not only for myself, but the entire agency.”

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​Ripple Effects: LeaderShift’s Impact on Organizations
​While it’s still too early to fully assess the impact that confident, collaboration-ready leaders will have on organizations and systems as they transform themselves and their roles, we know that employers are already seeing a difference. 
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Employers describe LeaderShift grads as more confident and more strategic. And they notice that after completing the LEADS Learning Series, grads work more collaboratively and take on larger or more complex projects than they did before.

​“[Name] has always displayed really good leadership abilities.
(LeaderShift) has given her more confidence.
I find that she is offering her help a lot more in terms of
things that would usually fall under management.”

It’s likely that LeaderShift is also supporting collaboration across our ecosystem. In a six-month follow-up survey, participants in earlier cohorts of the LEADS Learning Series indicated they were still in touch with classmates. We’ll hear more about those relationships, and about other longer-term collaborative impacts of LeaderShift, in 2020, after planned longer-term follow-ups. Interested in reading more about five LeaderShift grads who are making a difference? Click here.

You Can Still Help Shape the Shift 
While the opportunity to participate in the LEADS Learning Series is now closed, you’ll find lots of resources on this site to help you develop the capacity, confidence, and connections to lead health care into the future.

Not sure where to begin? Try our Health System Leaders Webinar Series, which covers key policies and systems that shape the community and primary health care ecosystem. Or dig into some practical, everyday leadership topics with our Applied Leadership e-learning series.